Leading Off: The 2011 Ferris State University
softball team will open its 39th season of intercollegiate
competition in the Sunshine State as the Bulldogs participate
in the annual Florida Rebel Spring Games Tournament from March
5-12 at Kissimmee, Fla. Ferris State will play 14 games
in a seven-day period with the non-conference contests to be
held between the Osceola County Softball Complex, Fortune
Road Athletic Complex, and Oren Brown Park.

2011 Record: Ferris State is 0-0-0 overall
and 0-0-0 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
(GLIAC) North Division this season.

Ferris State - Keri Becker
(Saginaw Valley State, 1995), 14th season, 409-253-1 (.618).
Becker, the all-time winningest coach in Ferris State's Softball
history, has guided the Bulldogs to three (1998, 1999, and 2008)
NCAA Division II National Softball Championship Tournament
appearances. The 1998 squad placed third nationally while the 1999
team set a school record for single-season victories (46 total).
The 2008 squad tied for fifth-place honors after capturing the
NCAA-II Great Lakes Regional title. Becker, who has been recognized
as the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's (GLIAC)
Coach of the Year three times (1997, 2003, and 2008) was a member
of the 2008 National Fastpitch Coaches Association's (NFCA)/NCAA
Division II Great Lakes Region Coaching Staff of the Year.

Becker Among The Best: Prior to this 2011
season, FSU head coch Keri Becker ranked 42nd
among the NCAA Division II's active softball head coaches in
victories (409) and was 45th in winning percentage (.618).
Becker is listed 58th nationally by percentage among the
winningest all-time NCAA Division II coaches.

2010 Rebel Spring Games Recap: Ferris State
compiled a 7-3 record at the 2010 Florida Rebel Spring
Tournament (March 6-17) as the Bulldogs won seven of their first
eight contests, highlighted by a seven-game winning streak.
FSU outscored the opposition by 26 runs (30-17) while hitting for a
.230 average and registering a 1.03 (10 earned runs) earned run
average. Dana Bowler (Lockport,
Ill.) compiled a 3-1 mark and a save in the circle with a 0.73
earned run average (three earned runs) and 21 strikeouts in
28.2 innings pitched for her five appearances in the season-opening
tourney.

Season Openers: The Bulldogs sport
an 8-6 record (.571) in season-opening contests under head
coach Keri Becker dating back to the 1997 campaign. FSU won
six of its first seven openers with Becker at the helm before
producing a 2-5 record in its last seven such appearances to
date. Ferris State dropped a 5-0 decision to North Alabama in
its 2010 season opener (Feb. 19) at the Alabama-Huntsville Charger
Chillout in Decatur, Ala.

Bulldog Bites: Sophomore pitcher Dana
Bowler is two strikeouts away from moving into a
16th-place tie with Roxanne Abramouski (1978-80; 120 career
strikeouts) on FSU's all-time pitching strikeouts leaders list . .
. Ferris State returns 65.9% (190-288) of its hitting production
and 62.6% (92-147) of its run-scoring output from last season . . .
Senior catcher Rachel Mueller (Milford/Santa
Clarita, Calif., Valencia) needs two more hits to reach the 50
career mark. Mueller, who totaled a career season-best 32
hits in 41 outings a season ago, has accumulated 48 career hits in
74 outings . . . Senior shortstop Lynsay Weaver
(Bay City/All Saints) is three RBIs shy of attaining her 50th
career run driven in. Weaver has presently knocked in 47
runs, which includes a season-high 21 RBIs in 2009, during a
138-game span . . . The Bulldogs compiled a 7-5 mark in March
encounters last season while averaging 2.58 runs per game (31
total) to the opposition's 1.92 runs an outing (23 total) . .
. Junior third baseman Allison Webber (Frankfort)
lead the Bulldogs in those 2010 March games with a team-leading
.353 batting average (6-17) and a .412 slugging percentage in eight
contests.

All-League Performer: Ferris State returns
2010 All-GLIAC Honorable Mention performer Makenzi
Peterson, who batted .357 with a team-high 30 base hits as
a starter in all 26 conference outings. Peterson also led the
Bulldogs with 18 RBIs and nine doubles while belting two home runs
to go with a .560 slugging percentage in conference
action.

39th Season: The 2011 campaign represents the
39th season of varsity competition for the Ferris State Softball
program. The Bulldogs are currently 768-664-3 overall (.536)
since the program's inception in 1973. During that period, FSU has
compiled 18 20-plus win seasons, including three consecutive
(1997-99) 40 or more victory campaigns.

A Season Ago: The 2010 Bulldogs registered a
26-16 overall record, which included a third-place
tying 17-9 GLIAC mark. FSU's 26 victories a
season ago tied for the 11th most single-season wins in the
program's history.

NCAA Tournament History: FSU made its seventh
NCAA-II Regional Tournament appearance in 2009 and its fourth trip
in the last five years. The Bulldogs compiled a 2-2-0 mark in
the double-elimination 2009 sub-Midwest Regional Tourney (March 8
& 10) held at University Center, Mich. Ferris State was
crowned Great Lakes Regional Tournament champions in 2008 and went
on to a fifth-place tying showing at the National Softball
Championships in Houston, Texas. The Bulldogs, who are 24-13
all-time in NCAA Tournament competition, have made three national
tournament appearances (1998, 1999, and 2008) to date in their
program's history. The 1998 team posted a 3-2 tourney mark en
route to placing third in Ferris' national tourney debut.

On Deck: Ferris State will be idle following
season-opening action at the Florida Rebel Spring Games Tournament
until March 25 when the Bulldogs begin GLIAC play with a six-game
road trip in Ohio. Ferris State will take on Lake Erie
Friday, March 25, in a doubleheader at Painesville, Ohio. The
Bulldogs then face Ohio Dominican Saturday, March 26, in Columbus,
Ohio for a pair of contests before wrapping up the road swing
Sunday, March 27, with a twinbill versus Ashland in Ashland,
Ohio.

Bulldog Athletics Twitbook: Ferris State
Bulldog Softball fans now can have access to additional
information on the 2011 team via Twitter at twitter.com/ferrisathletics.

On The Internet: Ferris State University
Athletics' official web site can be found at www.ferrisstatebulldogs.com.
The site features information on all of FSU's varsity athletics
programs including rosters, statistics, and more.

2011 GLIAC Standings: Fans can view the
complete 2011 GLIAC Standings at this link - GLIAC Standings. Information for the conference
overall and individual statistical leaders is available at GLIAC Statistics.